Collapsible box



E. K. MOPRIS.

COLLAPSIBLE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 28, 1919.

1,362,129, Patented Dec. 14, 1920. w]; A? //Z w 2,

. 1 TTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

EDWARD K. MORRIS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

COLLAPSIBLE BOX.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD K. MORRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore city, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Collapsible Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to boxes made of paper, paste-board or analogous material, and constructed so as to be foldable into small and compact form when not in use, for convenience in shipment and storage.

The invention has for its object to provide a very simple and cheaply constructed box of the kind stated, which is foldable in a novel and improved manner, and is provided with novel and improved means whereby the structure can be readily unfolded or distended and so held.

The object stated is attained by means of a combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described .and claimed, and while the preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed hereinafter.

In order that the invention may be better understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and in said drawing,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the box set up ready for use, with the lid or cover omitted;

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the bottom of the box;

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the box with the lid or cover in place;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the box partly folded, and

Fig. 5 is a cover folded.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the walls of the box are shaped to produce a box of rectangular contour. The four side walls of the box are denoted bythe reference characters 10, 11, 12 and 13, respectively. The bottom of, the box is in two sections, shown at 14 and 15, respectively. The section 14 is flexibly joined to the bottom edges of the two adjacent side walls 11 and 12, whereas the section 15 is similarly joined to the bottom edges of the diametrically opposite pair of adjacent side walls 10 and 13. The manner in which the side walls and bottom sections are joined is imperspective view of the lid or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

Application filed October. 28, 1919. Serial No. 334,078.

material. They are shown overlapped so that they ma be pasted together; but any other expedient may be resorted to.

The bottom sections 14 and 15 are substantially triangular in shape, and they are so dimensioned that they overlap at their free edges.

The side walls 10 to 13 are so connected at the corners of the box, that they may be folded, the connections being flexible ones. These walls may be made in one piece, with creases in three places defining three corners of the box, the fourth corner 'bein where the strip forming the walls is joinei a crease being made here also.

The bottom sections 14 and 15 are also foldable in the middle, by making creases 16 and 17 therein, the same being shown by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. These creases are in alinement and they run in a diagonal direction between two diagonally opposite corners of the box.

To fold the box, the corner formed by the junction of the walls 10 and 11, and the diagonally opposite corner formed by the junction of the walls 12 and 13, are pressed inwardly toward each other. This action brings the two pairsof walls toward each other, and the walls also tend to straighten out, it being understood that the box can be folded until the walls 10 and 11, are practically in alinement, with the walls 12 and 13 in a similar position, and the two. pairs of walls lying closely together. Fig. 4 illustrates the box partly folded, the folding being completed by bringing the two opposite pairs of walls still closer together.

When the side walls 10 to 13 are folded as described the bottom sections 14 and 15 swing upwardly and also fold on the lines 16 and 17, so that they now lie flat between the opposite pairs of folded side walls. The creases 16 and 17 are made so that the action of folding the side walls automatically causes the bottom sections to swing upwardly and fold.

In order to hold the box securely set-up or unfolded, a tie device is provided, the same being a string or tape 18. One end of this string or tape passes through a pair of vertically alined perforations 19 in the side wall 11, and the other end passes through similar perforations 20 in the opposite wall 13. Intermediate its ends, the string passes across the bottom of the box from the side wall 11 to the opposite side wall 13. The bottom section 14 has two laterally spaced perforations 21 and 22, and

section 15 over to the perforation 24, and

through the latter as well as through the perforation 22 beneath the same and in alinement therewith. The string is now again beneath the bottom of the box and it is continued across the section 15 over to the wall 13. The string passes loosely through the several perforations so that it may slip whenthe box is folded.

The lid or cover of the box is shown at 25, and it is foldable along a median line as shown in Fig. 5 so that it may be placed inside the folded box. The string 18 is also carried across the lid after the same is put on the box, and upon tying the ends of the I string together, as shown at 26 in Fig. 1, the

lid is securely held in place, and the box is also held set up and prevented from collapsing.

The string 18 can also be used for unfolding or setting up the box, by pulling on its ends. This action pulls the folded sections 14 and 15 downwardly and unfolds the same, and by the same action, the side walls are spread and properly set up.

It will be noted that the bottom sections 14 and 15 mutually overlap. which enables the perforations 22 and 24 to be located on one side of the folding creases 16 and 17, and the perforations 21 and 23 on theopposite side of said creases. This particular arrangement of perforations positions the string 18 in such a way that the box is automatically unfolded when the string 18 is pulled at its ends. The length of the overlapping portion of the section 14, measured between diagonally opposite corners of the box, is shorter than the corresponding portion of the section 15, -and hence the free edges of the sections do not catch each other when the box is unfolded. During the unfolding movement the longer section 15 comes above the shorter section 14, and upon engaging the latter pushes it down without the edges of the two sections coming together and catching on each other. This action will be understood from an inspection bly connected to the'bottom of two adjacent side walls, and the other section being flexibly connected to diametrically opposite adjacent side walls, said bottom sections having alined folding creases extending in a diagonal direction, and a tie string threaded at its ends through opposite side walls of the box, and passing intermediate its ends across the bottom of the box, the bottom sections being mutually overlapped on a diagonal line and having alined perforations on opposite sides of the folding creases through which the string is threaded.

2. A collapsible box comprising side walls which are flexibly connected at the corners of the box, and a bottom composed of a pair of separate sections, one section being flexibly connected to the bottom of two adjacent side walls, and the other section being flexibly connected to diametrically opposite adjacent side, walls, said bottom sections having alined folding creases extending in a diagonal direction, and a tie string threaded at its ends through opposite side walls of the box, and passing intermediate its ends across the bottom of the box, the bottom sections being mutually overlapped on a diagonal line and having alined perforations in its overlapped portions on opposite sides of the folding creases through which the string is threaded, the length of the overlapping portion of one of the bottom sections measured between diagonally ope posite corners of the box being shorter than the corresponding portion of the other bottom section.

, In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses;

EDWARD K. MORRIS. Witnesses:

E. WALTON BREWINGTON, HOWARD D. ADAMS. 

